Universal transportation system based on a cable suspended duo-rail railroad

ABSTRACT

A cable-suspended duo-rail railroad comprises a plurality of spaced pairs of columns anchored along the railroad right of way. A trackway is supported along the right of way between the spaced pairs of columns by means of cables extending from the columns to the trackway. The trackway is in the form of an inverted U, with two spaced rails supported on the legs of the U. A motor module is provided with traction wheels on a motor shaft riding on the rails in the U-shaped trackway. Cables are dropped from the module to engage a vehicle such as a car, truck or bus to elevate and combine one or more of these vehicles into a train for transport along the suspended railroad. The traction wheels carry formations which coact with camming surfaces located on the outer leg of the inverted U in a curve of the track to lift the outer traction wheels off their rail by centrifugal action.

nited States Patent Rypinski 1 Jan. 21, 1975 [54] UNIVERSALTRANSPORTATION SYSTEM 3,353,498 11/1967 Davis 104/89 BASED ON A CABLESUSPENDED 3,483,829 12/1969 Barry 3,552,321 1/1971 Priebe 104/18DUO-RAIL RAILROAD Albert Rypinski, Teaneck, NJ.

Duo-Mode Electric Transport System, Inc., Teaneck, NJ.

Filed: July 1 6, 1973 Appl. No.: 379,203

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 89,266, Nov. 11,1970, abandoned.

Inventor:

Assignee:

US. Cl 104/18, 104/20, 104/91, 104/94, 104/125, 104/246, 105/155, 213/75R int. Cl B61b 3/02, B61b 13/00 Field of Search 104/18, 20, 123, 89,91,104/94, 125, 246, 247, 248; 105/148, 155; 213/75; 301/5 9/1935 Strauss..104/89 11/1936 Hamilton 104/123 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. HoffmanAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [57] ABSTRACT Acable-suspended duo-rail railroad comprises a plurality of spaced pairsof columns anchored along the railroad right of way. A trackway issupported along the right of way between the spaced pairs of columns bymeans of cables extending from the columns to the trackway. The trackwayis in the form of an inverted U, with two spaced rails supported on thelegs of the U. A motor module is provided with traction wheels on amotor shaft riding on the rails in the U-shaped trackway. Cables aredropped from the module to engage a vehicle such as a car, truck or busto elevate and combine one or more of these vehicles into a train fortransport along the suspended-railroad. The traction wheels carryformations which coact with camming surfaces located on the outer leg ofthe inverted U in a curve of the track to lift the outer traction wheelsoff their rail by centrifugal action.

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PATENIEDJAN2H975 3.861.315 "SHEET mar-14 v PATENTED JANZI I975 SHEET 1"HF 14 UNIVERSAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM BASED ON A CABLE SUSPENDEDDUO-RAIL RAILROAD This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 89,266,filed 11 Nov. 1970 now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION This invention relates to the art of universalland transportation systems, and more particularly to a transportationsystem permitting a number of conventional land transportation vehicles,such as buses, cars, trucks, and the like, to be rapidly transportedfrom a collection station to a distribution station over existing rightsof way.

To qualify as a universal transportation system, the system should bedesigned to meet the following needs:

To carry masses of passengers; to carry many forms of freight andequipment; to provide means for facilitating the transport of liquidssuch as oil, water, chemicals; to provide mass transportation atelevated levels above highways, railroads, over rough and rocky countrywithout the necessity for grading the land; to carry people and goodsover swamps, wetland, streams, rivers, forests and jungleswithout thenecessity for grading or keeping growing plants or trees cut away; overdeserts and Arctic regions; to provide people a means of riding throughthe air quietly, quickly, smoothly, safely, without the dangers inherentin airplane or surface travel; over hills and mountains, up and downsteep grades, without the necessity for trackways winding back and forthup graded rights of way and under snowsheds.

Such a system can carry a large number of passengers in many car trains.The cars of the train are carried by modules having wheels of standardrailroad gauge, with any car of the train capable of being picked up andlowered at any point along a train without disturbing the remainingcars. A car can be equipped with railroad wheels, and lowered onto asurface railroad below, and proceed, under its own power, or bylocomotive, to any desired location. Buses carrying passengers can beraised or lowered at any point and serve their routes, atr both ends oftheir travel, under their own power, but can be carried by the railroadat high speed over relatively long distances in between. Containersfilled with goods can be picked up individually at or near factories andlowered directly into the holds of waiting ships. Light and heavy mail,express and freight cars can be transferred individually from surfacerailroads to the suspended line without the necessity for surfaceswitching yards. Trailer and other trucks can be picked up and depositedindividually at any location.

The overhead suspended system can, in addition to the transportationmeans for carrying freight and passengers, be provided with overheadmeans for the transport of oil, water or electric lines in a housingwhich can be rendered oil-, sandstorm and water-tight,compartmentalized, insulated against heat and cold, and with facilitiesto drain off oil, water, or other liquids onto tank cars suspended onthe railroad below, in case of pipe breakage. Electric lines can becabled and be completely protected against lightning, ice or any otherdamage. I

The system adapts itself to the transportation of earth, rock, etc.incidental to the digging of a canal beneath it. For example, it can beused to dig the canal, transport the removed materials, carry in cementand supplies, and after completion of the waterway tow vessels throughit while also transporting passengers and freight. Similarly it can digtrenches for a buried pipeline beneath it, lay the pipe, refill theearth. then trans port passengers and freight above the line; itinterferes not at all with free passage of animals, people or traffic onthe surface below.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The general object of my invention is toprovide an improved cable-suspended duo-rail railroad, normally carriedthrough the air, adapted for positioning either over existing right ofways such as highways, railways or canals, or over any surface conditionsuch as rough terrain, hills, mountains, wetlands, waterways, forests,jungles, etc.

Another object of the invention is to provide a transportation systemwhich may be erected over an existing right of way but which offers nointerference to traffic on the existing right of way.

A further object of the invention is to provide a transportation systemin which existing vehicles may be combined into a train for rapidlocomotion to a desired terminal. 1

Another object is to provide a transportation system minimizing noiseand pollution levels of vehicular movement along existing rights of way.

More specifically, my invention aims at providing means in such a systemfor preventing undue wear on the traction wheels of a vehicle carrier asthe latter rounds a curve in its track.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A transportation system embodying my inventionincludes a curved track with a pair of rails and a vehicle having atleast one pair of driven traction wheels riding the bottom surfaces ofthese rails, each rail further including a substantially vertical webrising from its bottom surface to limit lateral deviations of thevehicle off a predetermined path. At each bend the track is providedwith a camming surface disposed on the web of larger radius ofcurvature, i.e. on the outer one of the two rail webs, these cammingsurfaces coacting with formations on the adjoining traction wheels upona centrifugal displacement of the vehicle in a bend so as to lift theouter traction wheel in a curve off its supporting surface.

ln a preferred embodiment of my invention, the rails are part of anoverhead structure of inverted-U shape forming junctions with severalsurface routes, the wheel-supporting surfaces being part of horizontalbottom flanges on the lower ends of the legs of the inverted U. In sucha system the aforementioned vehicles are carriers circulating on theoverhead structure, each carrier being provided with hoist means forlifting a surface vehicle off its route at one junction and redepositingsame on another surface route at another junction.

In this preferred embodiment, as more fully described hereinafter, eachmotor with its traction wheels is supported by a drawbar platform whichalso carries all unitary equipment related to control, braking and otherfunctioning of the motor unit. Each such platform, with all itsequipment, will hereinafter be referred to as a motor module. Four suchmodules permanently joined together, including four motors and eightwheels, make up a standard car or bus length of approximately 40 feet.

Suspended below each set of four motor modules by eight cables, two foreach motor, is a rigid platform equipped with eight drums for windingand unwinding the cables. The winding and unwinding may either besynchronized so that all cables are payed out or drawn up equally, or beselectively controlled, on a system crossing a mountain at a steepangle, to keep the car horizontal while the motor modules pass up ordown the steep grades.

On the under surface of the module platform are sets of support meansfor the vehicles to be lifted and lowered. These support means comprisesockets into which corresponding parts on the vehicles enter, afterwhich bolts pass simultaneously through all the sockets and vehicleparts to form a rigid support for the vehicle. Cable support of thetrackways of this system results in important advantages. Solid orlattice-type beams for support of heavy loads, with a 70-100 foot spanare large in cross section, are ugly, and must have a greater crosssection for carrying a given load than does a cable.

In a cable each strand of wire can be of high-strength steel,individually and exactly tempered to bring out is maximum strength. Thiscannot be accomplished with large steel beams.

With cables extending downward between columns and trackways at about a30 angle below the horizontal, the cable tensile strength need only beas great as for a vertical cable sustaining the same load.

In addition to small size for sustaining loads, cables, because of theirnon-rigidity, absorb vibration and shocks, and adjust automatically tochanges in temperature.

The system is capable of supplying a multiplicity of needs presenttoday.

The most urgent is the need, now at a crisis stage, for masstransportation from the heart of cities, large and small, intorelatively far-out suburban areas perhaps or times the size of thecentral city. Every city in the U.S. now has highways and rail linesthreading through and out into these areas. It only remains to installthe overhead system over the highways, without the acquisition of newreal estate, and transportation will be available for mass travelanywhere in the whole area. Since no new right of way cost is incurred,fares can be low, and many city problems rendered solvable.

Between cities less than a few hundred miles apart, passenger linessuspended above existing rail lines can double the capacity of therailroads without acquiring new real estate, and eliminate interferencebetween freight and passenger traffic, provide low-fare highspeedtravel, and successfully compete with other transportation forms.

The system lends itself to implementing some of the most imaginativecurrent development projects. Four of these are:

l. Carrying the Alaskan oil down to existing Alaska cities;

2. Providing rail transportation through Amazonia, the vast territoryforming the headwaters of the Amazon River in Brazil;

3. Carrying water from surplus-water areas to dry areas; and

4. Digging a new Panama Canal, and providing towing and passenger andfreight haulage after the construction is complete.

In building the system, in each case construction can start at a pointwhere materials are available and the system itself can carry suppliesto construction crews as the build up proceeds.

By providing locomotives" or special trains suitably equipped, thesystem can be used for transport over mountains, such as the RockyMountains, riding directly up grades possibly as steep as 45 To do this,two wheels on each of two motor modules can be covered with acaterpillar" tread geared to the rails, and the cars can beautomatically leveled, as described above.

The mechanism for picking up and releasing vehicles opens up large newpossibilities. Each train of cars can have a control car, and withpresent-day control and communication equipment, any one car in a longtrain can be lowered or picked up at any point along the line andcarried to any other point. This applies to all kinds of passenger-andfreight-carrying vehicles.

Inherent Advantages of the System Safety The first consideration issafety. Comparison with surface railroads will show that thecable-suspended system, with motors separated from the cars, and runningon rails within inverted U trackways above the cars, is inherently saferthan surface railroads.

On surface railroads a flange on each wheel is relied on to preventderailment. ln rounding curves an extra rail called a guard rail isprovided to make doubly sure that the flanges do not override the railsunder the action of centrifical force.

In the inverted-U construction, the side walls of the U constitute guardrails, but these extend all the way from the rails to the roof of thestructure. There is therefore no possibility of derailment, whereas withsurface railroads derailment is officially acknowledged to be the causeof most railroad accidents.

The foundations of surface railroads are inherently less safe than thoseon the cable-suspended system. The wooden ties are subject to rot andtermites, and are displaced by frost, and their earth supports arewashed away by floods. The supports for the suspended system areconcrete-and-steel foundations buried deep in the earth every 50 orfeet, and are unaffected by the conditions cited above.

Surface railroad cars, necessarily spring mounted, are subject toviolent gyrations, especially at high speed, and must be very heavy tosuccessfully withstand the strains incidental in these gyrations, andthose occurring in collisions and overturning in a derailment.

The cable-suspended cars of the duo-rail system are insulated from shockby the cables supporting them, all blows being taken through the motorline above, and passengers are therefore subjected only to a shaking upin any shock less than the most violent collision. The duo-rail carstherefore need only to weigh a fraction of the weight of those on asurface railroad.

Since they are suspended in the air, there can be no collisions withanything on the surface.

With the block-signal system and the 2-voltage power supply to bedescribed below, trains can safely proceed in fog conditions of zerovisibility.

Incidental to safety, escape means must be provided in case of fire orother emergency. In the construction to be described, a walkway is madeavailable between the two inverted-U trackways, and access to it isgained through ladders in the conveyances and trap doors in their roofs.I Independence Of Weather Weather is a factor in safety of railwaytravel. Frozen switches, ice and snow on trackways can, at least,interfere with travel and, at the worst, cause derailment of trains.

The system to be described is more nearly independent of weather thanother forms of transportation. Since the driving elements are shelteredfrom rain, snow, ice, lightning, floods, wind, even hurricanes andcyclones, trains can operate under any of these weather conditions. Fogcannot stop travel, as stated above. Winds cannot sway the cars, restingon their two widely spaced-apart rails.

Switching And Crossovers Switching, while feasible, is more difficultand expensive than with surface railroads. To switch, a section ofinverted-U trackway of sufficient length must be moved to replace thestraight-line trackway, and insert one curved to the right or left, asthe case may be, to line up with a trackway to. the right or left. Thismovable structure must be supported from above, since the cars andtrackway must have room to swing'below.

For a crossover between one line and another, the tracks must swivelthrough 90 to align with the other tracks.

For these reasons the system should have a minimum number of switches.The loop system, where a train travels continuously in a forwarddirection around the entire loop, lends itself to a no-switchingconcept. With high-speed trains, every train can travel the entire loop.The difference in demand for cars or buses at various times of the dayis inherently taken care of by the fact that each train can carry asingle car or bus, or as many as, say, ten cars or buses if it has motormodules capable of carrying that many. A freight train with positionsfor 50 cars can carry any number up to 50. Switches are essential onsurface passenger or freight lines, but the ability to release or pickup any one of the cars making up a train removes this necessity with thesuspended line.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of trackways capableof supporting train elements suspended below, these trackways comprisingsubstantially rigid members in the form of an inverted U, withfacilities at the lower ends of the U for carrying two rails, one ateach open side of the U, constituting the basic unit of a duo-railsuspended railroad system.

Another feature resides in the support of the inverted U trackway bycables secured to the trackway, and to columnar supports spaced awayfrom the trackway and extending transversely to the direction of therailroad.

A further feature resides in the provision of two such trackways, onefor trains in each direction, and to provide a walkway for emergencyuse, suspended between the two trackways.

Another feature resides in the arrangement of electric motors and theircurrent supply, control and supporting means within said trackways, eachmotor equipped wtih two suitably tired wheels running on the rails atthe base of the inverted U.

lt is also a feature to so space the legs of the inverted U, witghrelation to the motor driven wheels, as to provide the equivalent ofguard rails, preventing any possibility of derailment of wheels.

Another feature resides in the platform supported by each motor andcarrying all its accessories, such as current pickup devices, switchingcontactors, and braking equipment, to be referred to as a motor module.

A further feature resides in each motor module provided with aconnecting element at each of its ends joining it to the adjacentmodules. said joining elements adapted to permit side wise or verticalmovement of each individual module, independently of the movement ofadjoining modules.

Another feature is the two cables reaching downwardly from the twolateral sections of each module platform, with facilities at the pointwhere the cable joins the platform, to permit sidewise swiveling actionat this point, to assist in taking up the movement differences betweenrigid cars and swiveling motor modules.

It is also a feature to provide a swinging rigid platform, supported byeight cables extending from four motor modules, this platform carryinghoisting and lowering means for extending or drawing in the supportcables.

Another feature is the dimensioning of the platform and motor modules tobe adequate to support and carry conventional transportation vehicles ofapproximately forty feet in length with suitable clearance between onevehicle and the next.

Another feature is to equip the platform, on its lower face, with meansof adequate strength to securely hold cooperating means affixed to theupper surface of vehicles, for the purpose of lifting, transporting andlowering the vehicles.

Another feature is to provide the hoisting means for the cables on thesuspended platforms to draw in or let out the cables at exactly the samespeed, to insure uniform tension in the cables, and balanced rise andfall of the platform and the vehicle it supports.

A further feature is to provide cars or trains with pairs of motormodule wheels having caterpillar treads, of suitable design, to enablethe motor means, carrying suspended cars, to safely climb up and downrelatively steep grades.

Another feature is to provide the caterpillar-tread equipped units withautomatic self-leveling devices, controlling the length of theindividual cables lifting and lowering a platform and its load, so thatthe platform remains horizontal as the motor modules ascend or descendsteep grades.

A further feature is to equip each wheel of motor modules with asuitable thrust bearing on its outer face, adjacent to the sidewall ofthe inverted-U trackway, to limit the endwise movement of any motormodule.

Another feature is to provide carrying means for vehicles, on liftingplatforms and vehicles, consisting of sockets on the under-surface ofthe platforms, into which projecting elements on the vehicle enter, anda system of bolts driven simultaneously by a single motor on theplatform, adapted to pass through openings in the sockets and theprojecting elements, to provide positive and safe means for carrying thevehicle.

Another feature is to provide a control car with each train capable,through electric and eletronic controls, of operating all the electricor electronic or communication equipment throughout the train.

Another feature is to provide the control car with an elevator,controllable from within the elevator or without, capable of raising orlowering the train operator or others.

Another feature is to provide visual, electric, electronic, manual orautomatic means to enable the person or persons controlling the pick-upor lowering of a vehicle to accurately align the hoisting platform withthe vehicle, or to lower the vehicle at an exact selected position.

Another feature is to provide a simple automatic block safety systemincluding a high-voltage and lowvoltage power supply to all trains,dividing the system into blocks, and providing automatic means, when atrain enters a block, to cut off the high-voltage power supply to theblock it is leaving, so that a following train can proceed only atreduced speed until the train ahead leaves its block.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The specific details of the invention andtheir mode of functioning will be described in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cable-suspended duo-rail railroadsystem, showing two trackways, over a six-lane highway, constructed inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic elevational view of a system over a conventionalsurface railroad, illustrating the mode of transferring a box car fromthe system to the surface railroad, and showing various types ofsuspended loads;

FIG. 3 is a transverse view through the railroad of the invention shownsuspended over a highway;

FIG. 4 is a transverse view through the railroad shown passing over anunderpass on a highway;

FIG. 5 is a detail illustration of the construction of a cable used insupporting the trackways;

FIG. 6 is a partial cross section of a single trackway, showing themotor module formed by a motor and wheel assembly mounted on a drawbarplatform, with a cable-supported load-engaging platform below thedrawbar platform, and a bus, partly lowered, secured to theload-engaging platform;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show a side view and an end view, respectively, of atraction wheel of the module;

FIG. 8 shows two trackways, with an emergency escape walkway betweenthem, and illustrates the escape method;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a motor module, indicating the equipment itcarries;

FIG. 10 is a cross section on line X-X of FIG. 9 showing three sets ofcurrent supply busbars, and the current pickup devices carried by themotor module;

FIG. 11 shows four motor modules joined together to match a 40-foot-longcar or bus;

FIG. 12 is a detail showing a top and end view of a universal-jointcoupling for connection of one motor module to the next;

FIG. 13 shows two motor modules joined together by the universalcoupling of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 shows the pivotal action of the coupling when cars are roundingcurves;

FIG. 15 shows the pivotal action of the coupling when cars are changinggrade;

FIG. 16 shows a swivel hanger joining a cable to the underside of amotor drawbar platform;

FIG. 17 is a top view of a load-support platform carried by motormodules;

FIG. 18 is a side view of the platform of FIG. l7;

FIG. 19 is an end view, in partial section. of the platform of FIG. 17,showing locking means for securing the lifting means on vehicles to theplatform;

FIG. 20 is a plan view of a station for pickup and delivery of vehiclesby the duo-rail railroad. including means for positioning vehicles;

FIG. 21 is a view of a control car equipped with an elevator;

FIG. 22 shows a switching arrangement to transfer trains between theoutgoing and incoming tracks, with the tracks shown in switchoverposition;

FIG. 23 is the switching arrangement of FIG. 22 with the tracks instraight-through position;

FIG. 24 illustrates a switching arrangement for a turnout from one lineto another. and a switch at a crossover;

FIG. 25 is a plan view of a switch arrangement in which the tracks movevertically to change from one condition to the other;

FIG. 26 schematically illustrates in transverse elevation a station on acable-suspended duo-rail railroad;

FIG. 27 shows the method of removing or installing a motor modulethrough an opening in the roof of the inverted-U shaped track;

FIGS. 28, 29 and 30 show detailed methods of uncoupling motor modules,

FIG. 31 illustrates the relationship between track rail and tractionwheels showing means for reducing tire and traction rail wear whentrains are rounding curves;

FIG. 32 schematically illustrates a cable suspended duo-rail railroadcrossing over a steep hill or mountain;

FIG. 33 illustrates a construction of motor modules with caterpillartreads, for steep grades, and the method of keeping the suspendedvehicle level during ascent and descent; and

FIG. 34 is a combined cable-suspended duo-rail railroad structureincluding an insulated housing and means for enclosing oil, water, gasor electric lines.

SPECIAL DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1, a six-lane highway 1 has columns 2erected in spaced pairs along each side of the right of way, and cables3 extending from the columns to a pair of trackways 4. Backguys 21 bracethe columns against tilting. Suspended from motor modules riding in eachtrackway 4 are platforms 5 from which are suspended passenger-carryingvehicles 6 and a control car 7. One trackway is for trains passing inone direction and the other for trains passing in the oppositedirection.

FIG. 2 pictures a similar set of spaced pairs of columns and acable-suspended trackway supported thereby, while below there is asurface railroad 8. A control car 22 is shown suspended from thetrackway, and a variety of vehicles make up the train. A railroad boxcar 9 equipped with standard-guage wheels for the conventional surfacerailroad illustrated beneath the trackway is shown being lowered intoplace in an open position 10 in a train of cars to be pulled by alocomotive 11. This illustrates the method by which cars can beinterchanged between surface railroads and the suspended system withoutthe necessity for switches on either line. Included in the suspendedtrain shown in FIG. 2 is a container 12, a semitrailer l3, and a regulartruck 14.

FIG. 3 is a transverse view showing a pair of inverted U trackways, l5and 16, suspended over a highway.

FIG. 4 is a comparable view except that the trackway is shown suspendedover a crossing between an upper highway 17 and a lower highway 18. Thesuspended line has changed grade from the elevation of FIG. 3 to that ofFIG. 4.

FIG. is a detail showing of the cable used in the suspended system. Thecable is straight at 19 and is terminated in two end fittings 20. Ashaped cable, passing all the way through from one anchorage to theother over the columns and through both trackways, could be employed,but only if the support fittings at the bends were designed as incatenary construction for equal strains at all points to prevent cablebreakage under movement.

As seen in FIG. 6, on inverted-U trackway 23 is shown constructed of Ibeams, box beams, or other adequately strong structural shapes, andinturned sections 24 at the lower ends of the legs of the U. These arerigid shapes carrying rails 25. Carried on the rails are traction wheels26, with tires 37 of suitable material. The wheels are mounted on shaft27 which passes through bearings 28 to motor 29. The motor 29 carriesplatform 30, hereinafter called a drawbar platform. Disc brake 31 isprovided on shaft 27 for the motor-wheel assembly. Mounted on theinterior ceiling of the inverted U are sets of busbars 32, theconstruction and functioning of which will be explained below.

In surface-railroad practice on curves, it is customary to provide anextra rail, called a guard rail, adjacent the rail nearest the center ofthe curve, to provide extra protection against derailment as thecentrifugal forces tend to make the wheel flange on the outside railrise up and derail.

In the inverted-U track 23 shown in FIG. 6, the two legs 143 and 144 actas guard rails. Since they extend upward all the way from the rails tothe roof 145 it is impossible for the wheels to escape and causederailment.

Suspended below drawbar motor module platform by cables 33 is a secondplatform 34, hereafter referred to as the load-carrying platform, and abus 35 is shown secured to the under-side 36 of load-carrying platform34. The bus is shown in partially lowered position.

Traction wheels 25 are provided with thrust bearings 38, shown ingreater detail in FIGS. 7A and 78.

FIG. 8 illustrates a suggested position and shape of an emergency-escapewalkway 39 suspended between two trackways 40 and 41. Passenger vehicle42 has a ladder 43 normally hinged to and up against the roof 44 of thevehicle. In fire or other emergencies the ladder is pulled down toposition 45. On being swung down, it automatically, through a linkage(not shown), raises a hatch cover 46 on the roof of the vehicle, and thepassengers escape as indicated at 47.

Alternatively, the escape platform may have its lower end at the samelevel as the bus floor, making it feasible, by bringing a walkway outfrom the bus and flush with its floor, for passengers to escape bywalking on one level, thus avoiding climbing a ladder.

FIG. 9 is a top view of motor module drawbar platform 48 schematicallyillustrating the equipment it carries. Included are current-pick-upmeans 49 to be detailed later, remotely controlled electric switches 50(contactors), a hydraulic brake system 51 including a motor-driven pump52, a pressure tank 53, and all necessary accessories for control ofbraking.

The whole assembly of drawbar platform 48 and all it contains isreferred to as a motor module.

FIG. 10 shows the busbar and current-pick-up arrangement for powersupply to the motor and to all control and auxiliary equipment. Themotor power supply is shown as carried by two sets of busbars 54 and 55,providing three-phase power at a higher and a lower voltage. Busbars 56are for three-phase 4-wirc 120-208-volt supply for all controloperations, car light and heat, and door operation.

Busbars 54, 55 and 56 are supported by insulating means 57, and eachmotor module carries current collectors 58, consisting of brushes orshoes affixed to flexible cables 61 and thence to switches or otherequipment. Each motor module carries a control cable made up of multipleconductors, and with plug means to automatically or manually connect itto adjoining modules making up a train. The coupling means for moduleswill be explained later.

FIG. 11 indicates how a number of motor modules equal in length to thatof a vehicle to be carried are combined in accordance with theinvention. Four motor modules 62, 63, 64 and 65 are shown joinedtogether to match the length of a car or bus to be carried.

FIG. 12 is a detail of a universal coupling for connection of one motormodule to the next. When installed between two motor modules as shown inFIG. 13, it allows movement in a vertical plane between the modules asshown in FIG. 15, and also movement in a horizontal plane between them,as shown in FIG. 14. In FIG. 13 the universal coupling 66 is shownjoining two motor modules 67 and 68. FIG. 14 shows a top view of threemotor modules 69, 70 and 71 rounding a curve illustrating how theuniversal coupling 72 allows swiveling in a horizontal plane FIG. 15,showing a side view of motor modules changing grade, illustrates howuniversal couplings 73 allow swiveling in a vertical plane.

FIG. 16 pictures a swivel hanger pivoted on the underside of amotor-module platform. Where, as preferred, there are a plurality ofmotor modules to each car or load length, these modules, as shown inFIG. 14, must turn with respect to each other in rounding curves. Thecar or the load, as the case may be, is a rigid body longer than any onemodule. Thus by using the swivel hangers 74, along with the flexiblecables 75, differential adjustment of the support means is providedsufficient to allow rounding curves without undue strain on the variousparts.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, a plurality of motor modules may becombined with a single load-support platform 83. A top view of that isshown in FIG. 17 suspended from four motor modules and carried by cables75. These cables are wound on winding drums 76, of which there are eightwith the drums 76 mounted in pairs on shafts 77, which pass throughcentrally located worm-gear reducers 78. The reducers are driven by asprocket chain 79 from a reduction-gear motor 80, the reduction gearingin the motor serving to reduce the output speed to a value suitable forchain drive. The characteristics of worm gears make it generallyimpossible for the load to cause the platform to be lowered. The drumscan be caused to rotate only from the motor input end.

In order to insure secure engagement between a load, such as a bus orthe like, and the load-carrying platform 83, as shown in FIG. 19, thevehicle 84 is provided with vertical projections 85 on its roof 86.These are re-

1. A transportation system comprising: a network of surface routes; anoverhead rail structure of inverted-U shape forming junctions with saidsurface routes, said structure having at least one generally horizontalbend and being provided with horizontal bottom flanges on the lower endsof the legs of the inverted U; a multiplicity of self-propelled vehiclesadapted to travel any of said surface routes; a series of motor-drivenvehicle carriers circulating on said structure, each of said carriersbeing provided with at least one pair of driven traction Wheels ridingsaid bottom flanges, the outer leg of said inverted U being formed atsaid bend with a camming surface, the traction wheels adjoining saidouter leg being provided with formations engageable with said cammingsurface by centrifugal force due to motion of the vehicle through thebend for lifting said adjoining traction wheels off the bottom flangenormally supporting same; and hoist means on said carriers engageablewith any of said vehicles for lifting same off a surface route at one ofsaid junctions and redepositing same on another surface route at anotherof said junctions.
 2. A system as defined in claim 1 wherein eachvehicle carrier comprises a train of separately powered motor modulescoupled to one another by universal joints.
 3. A system as defined inclaim 2 wherein each vehicle carrier comprises a single platformsubstantially coextensive with said train and suspended by said hoistmeans from all the motor modules thereof.
 4. A system as defined inclaim 3 wherein said vehicles and the platforms of said carriers areprovided with complementary coupling means, further comprisingreleasable locking means for said coupling means on said platform.
 5. Asystem as defined in claim 1 wherein said structure forms a closed loopwith two parallel trackways for circulation in opposite directions.
 6. Asystem as defined in claim 1, further comprising pairs of transverselyspaced columns supporting said overhead rail structure, said surfaceroutes passing between the paired columns at their junctions with saidtrack.
 7. A system as defined in claim 1, further comprising elevatedplatforms rigid with certain column pairs forming stations for loadingand unloading passengers of vehicles suspended from said carriers.
 8. Ina transportation system including a curved track with a pair of railsand a vehicle having at least one pair of driven traction wheels ridingsaid rails, each of said rails including a wheel-supporting bottomsurface, the improvement wherein each rail further includes asubstantially vertical web rising from said bottom surface to limitlateral deviations of said vehicle from a predetermined path, said trackbeing provided at each bend with a camming surface disposed on the webof larger radius of curvature, said traction wheels being provided withformations engageable by adjoining camming surfaces upon a centrifugaldisplacement of the vehicle in a bend for lifting the outer tractionwheel in a curve off its bottom surface.
 9. The improvement defined inclaim 8 wherein said rails are part of a structure of inverted-U shape,the legs of the U forming the webs of said rails and being provided attheir lower ends with inwardly directed flanges forming thewheel-supporting bottom surfaces.
 10. The improvement defined in claim 9wherein said traction wheels have tire-carrying bodies withsubstantially flat outer faces, said formations comprising a set ofperipherally spaced balls on said bodies projecting axially from saidouter faces.